OP'S LAVERATT STIRS CONFLICT WITH 'INTERFERENCE'

In many ways, Mary Laveratt was a typical candidate when she ran for the City Council in 1983.

She campaigned to abolish pensions for elected officials, promised to control city spending and vowed to support top-notch police and municipal services.

Indeed, Laveratt's record shows that she helped kill pensions for elected officials, and Oakland Park's taxes haven't increased during her two-year tenure on the council.

City employees and police officers, however, claim that Laveratt's methods of bringing about change in City Hall have left much to be desired.

An examination of city records as well as interviews with city employees and former City Hall workers reveal a pattern of interference by Laveratt in internal administrative affairs that has resulted in poor employee morale.

That interference, police officers said, was a key reason why the Fraternal Order of Police campaigned against Laveratt's council allies in the March 12 election. Laveratt, whose term expires in 1987, did not have to run.

Many officers, for example, objected to a campaign by Laveratt and the council majority a year ago to try to fire Public Safety Department Director Edward Turner.

City Manager Richard Clark refused. But Clark stripped Turner of his power, and the responsibility for running the department was handed over to Deputy Director Clyde Maneri.

"The removal of Turner from authority was just flat illegal," said council member H. Keneth Powell, who noted that this would have been legal only if the council amended the ordinance governing Turner's duties.

Shortly after the election, when voters ousted all three of Laveratt's council allies, Clark returned control of the department to Turner.

Turner confirmed what rank-and-file officers and other city employees had been saying privately for months: that Laveratt frequently meddled in internal administrative matters.

Turner also said Laveratt's requests received special attention from the Police Department. He did not blame Maneri entirely, but said that the special treatment Laveratt received occurred under Maneri's leadership and stopped when he returned to power.

"I understand there was a lot of pressure on a lot of people," said Turner. "I still like Clyde. I may be a little more disappointed in him. Some people are put into predicaments where they're pressured into it."

In one instance, according to internal police records, Laveratt was allowed to sit in while two detectives questioned a woman making a complaint that a police report contained false information. The report contained information about the shooting of the woman's dog by a police officer.

A transcript of the 28-minute proceeding, which occurred on Sept. 7, shows that Laveratt asked the complainant two questions.

"It was highly unethical and unprofessional," said Turner. Right after the session, he said, Laveratt talked to the detectives and "questioned their interrogation."

"She should never have been in that room to begin with," said Turner.

Laveratt said she was not aware that her presence caused any impropriety. However, she declined to answer other questions about her performance in office.

Clark said he thought the police report incident "was a little strange," but denied any responsibility for allowing Laveratt's presence during the questioning.

"I didn't have a helluva lot to do with it," said Clark. "I don't know who set the original thing up."

"At the time, I was working under the city manager," said Maneri. "Some of the things he (Turner) did not agree with, I was under direct orders to do."

The city charter does not prohibit council members from inquiring about the city's day-to-day business. But current and former City Hall employees said Laveratt has sometimes tried to run City Hall by making suggestions to department heads.

A former city employee, asking not to be identified, said former City Manager John Stunson once told Laveratt to stop talking to individual departments.

"She didn't want to funnel through him," said the ex-employee. "She just had contempt for government and its workers. She threatened my job if I didn't do what she wanted."

Council member Powell, one of Laveratt's council adversaries, said Laveratt has failed to grasp the proper role of a council member.

"She doesn't understand the idea of a board of directorship-type management, which is what a City Council amounts to," said Powell. "We're merely to set the goals and guidelines and let them (employees) do the tasks we outline."

But not everyone agrees with Powell's analysis.

In assessing Laveratt's performance, former Mayor Glenn Dufek, a strong supporter of Laveratt, said, "Excellent. She always investigates everything before she talks."

As an example of Laveratt's involvement in the city's day-to-day affairs, Laveratt privately suggested last spring that the city hire a printing firm she had used in her 1983 election campaign, one former employee said.

At the time, the city was looking for a printer to publish The Oakleaf, a newsletter distributed to residents. The former employee said Laveratt made the suggestion to interim City Manager Edward Bailey.

According to city records, the city paid $860 to Imperial Press, a Pompano Beach firm, to print the newsletter. Campaign records show that Frank DeBlase, who owns Imperial Press, received $225 from Laveratt to print some of her election material in 1983.

Laveratt has also tried to circumvent council decisions.

Shortly after the council adopted the city's 1983-84 budget, Laveratt asked Clark to ignore a handful of anticipated purchases of supplies -- approved by the council -- that she thought were excessive.

Clark said he ignored her.

"It was either do nothing or just decide what the best way to do something was and go do it," said Clark.

Laveratt may indeed have been a typical council candidate two years ago, but her record as an elected official has been anything but ordinary.

In her 1983 election campaign, Laveratt -- who at the time was president of Broward County Right to Life -- stated that she would never let her position affect her vote on the council.

But publicly, Laveratt has used her office periodically to promote her anti- abortion beliefs.

Last year, Laveratt supported a proposed ordinance that would have regulated -- or banned -- abortions in Oakland Park as it was being researched by the City Attorney's Office.

Despite her enthusiastic support, the proposed measure was never placed on the council agenda for consideration.

The proposed ordinance was also an issue in this year's election. But Laveratt -- after her three allies on the council were defeated -- said the anti-abortion issue had been blown out of proportion by the press.

A week earlier, though, Laveratt was quite happy with the attention Oakland Park had been receiving because of the anti-abortion issue.

"And I don't regret it," said Laveratt in a story published in the Palm Beach Post on March 3. "Not a bit. I am delighted because for the first time, we (anti-abortion advocates) are getting some publicity."